Andrea Berloff didn’t grow up listening to NWA. She was only 14 in 1988 when the hip-hop group released its debut album, “Straight Outta Compton.’’ Even if she’d been older, she’s not convinced she would have found the album back then. She was isolated, and there was no Internet.

“I don’t think Strawberries records in Framingham would have been carrying NWA, so my musical tastes were more classic rock, because I’m from Boston, right? So I was sort of inundated by the big classic rock bands, at that age anyway.’’

Still, it was Berloff — a white woman from Framingham — who was hired to write the screenplay for “Straight Outta Compton,’’ a film tracing NWA’s rise, with a black director, F. Gary Gray, and a largely African-American cast.

Berloff now shares the Oscar nomination for best original screenplay for “Compton,’’ with the awards being announced Sunday. Jonathan Herman, a white screenwriter, worked on the project after Berloff; S. Leigh Savidge, Alan Wenkus, and Berloff are credited for the story.

It’s the only nomination for “Straight Outta Compton’’ — a fact that became part of the swirl of controversy over this year’s lack of Academy Award nominations for minorities.

Berloff doesn’t shy away from talking about racism and the Oscars. She says she’s happy people are finally talking about this issue in Hollywood.

“I think if we could start there, if we could start with everybody being more comfortable talking about race, specifically white people talking about race, I think that we could start to move the needle,’’ she says.

“Are the Oscars too white? Yes, absolutely,’’ she says, noting that it’s also part of a bigger problem. “What’s happening is women and people of color are not getting hired, so if they’re not hired, they’re not going to write the movie or direct the movie, and they’re not going to tell movies from their point of view and perspectives, so those movies aren’t going to get made.’’

When fewer minorities and women make movies, she explains, awards are harder to get: “You can’t have two African-American movies or two female-driven movies a year and expect it to be represented at the Oscars. It’s just not going to happen.’’

Berloff says she was hired for “Straight Outta Compton’’ because she had experience bringing a complicated true story to the screen. She also wrote the screenplay for Oliver Stone’s 2006 film “World Trade Center,’’ about Port Authority police officers getting trapped in the rubble after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“ ‘World Trade Center’ was a very difficult, sensitive story, so I had already shown that I knew how to do that,’’ she says. “I’m known for being able to do a ton of research, which [“Straight Outta Compton’’] required. And — now I’m just tooting my own horn — I know they interviewed at least five or six writers, and I’m the only one who walked into the room with the movie you see on the screen right now.’’

Berloff says her vision for “Straight Outta Compton’’ was to avoid making a biopic. To her, “Compton’’ was bigger than that. She wanted to put the history of the group in the context of what was happening in America.

“This is about police abuse and racism in America, and this is about First Amendment rights and all of these gigantic themes, and the music and the story of these guys will be there to support all that, but it’s not just a movie about a band,’’ she says.

Berloff’s process for “Compton’’ began with 10 months of listening to music, interviewing sources, and going through old footage. One of her first interviews was with Tomica Woods-Wright, widow of Eric Wright, also known as NWA’s Eazy-E, a rapper who died in 1995. Berloff said Wright helped her understand that Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and the others in NWA were “not just icons; they’re human beings with families who love them.’’

They’re also human beings with flaws — which led to a separate controversy over what was left out of the film. After the movie was released, some pointed out that it did not address allegations that Dre had physically assaulted women. Dre later told The New York Times, “I apologize to the women I’ve hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives.’’

How does she answer the critics? “In my draft, it was addressed,’’ Berloff says. “Changes were made. I’m not going to beat around the bush.’’

Berloff began with aspirations as an actor. After high school in Framingham, she went to Cornell and then did theater in New York before moving to Los Angeles.

“It evolved into writing,’’ she says. “With acting, I was waiting, I was waiting around for auditions, waiting around to get permission to be creative. . . . Writing is something you can get up and do every day.’’

Berloff has two films coming out this year: “Sleepless Night,’’ starring Jamie Foxx, and “Blood Father,’’ with Mel Gibson.

“It’s going to seem like I had a very prolific year in 2016, but the truth is I wrote one of those movies six years ago and one of those four years ago, and it just takes an enormous amount of time for movies to get made,’’ she explained.

She also has a television show on the horizon. Ben Forkner, producer with Management 360, is working with Berloff on a TV adaptation of the book “Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family’s Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris.’’ He’s also teaming with her on a film adaptation of “Dangerous Odds,’’ a memoir by Marisa Lankester, an insider in the world of sports gambling.

Forkner, who is from Milton, said both projects call for Berloff’s special talent for telling true stories in a way that earns big box-office returns.

“I think “Compton’ is an example of what makes her unique,’’ said Forkner of the film, which has made more than $200 million worldwide. “So often a true story is relegated to a small, independent realm.’’

Berloff says she hopes the Oscar nomination will help her continue to bring nuanced stories to the screen.

“My hope is that the movie has shown that there is an audience for more diverse stories and movies that tell about more complicated issues,’’ she says. “If I had the opportunity to continue to write more diverse, more mature, more interesting movies, that’s what I hope comes out of it.’’

Meredith Goldstein can be reached at meredith.goldstein @globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @MeredithGoldste